Sea levels on Earth are rising. They are going up at a rate several times faster than they have in the past 2,800 years. They are accelerating because of man-made global warming. This is according to new studies.

An international team of scientists dug into two dozen locations across the globe. They charted gently rising and falling seas over centuries. Until the 1880s and the world's industrialization, the fastest seas rose was about 1 to 1.5 inches a century. The rate is plus or minus a bit. During that time, global sea level really didn't get much higher or lower than 3 inches above or below the 2,000-year average.

But in the 20th century, the world's seas rose 5.5 inches. Since 1993, the rate has soared. It has been rising at a foot per century. A century is 100 years. And two different studies, published in February in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said by 2100, the world's oceans will rise between 11 to 52 inches. The actual level will depend on how much heat-trapping gas Earth's industries and vehicles expel.

"There's no question that the 20th century is the fastest," said Rutgers University earth and planetary sciences professor Bob Kopp. He is lead author of the study. It looked back at sea levels over the past three thousand years. "It's because of the temperature increase in the 20th century, which has been driven by fossil fuel use."

To figure out past sea levels and rates of rise and fall, scientists engaged in a "geological detective story." That's according to study co-author Ben Horton. He is a marine scientist at Rutgers University. The school is in New Jersey. The researchers went around the world looking at salt marshes and other coastal locations. They used different clues to figure out what the sea level was at different times. They found single-cell organisms that are sensitive to salinity, mangroves, coral, sediments and other clues in cores, Horton said. On top of that, they checked their figures by easy markers. Those included the rise of lead with the start of the industrial age and isotopes only seen in the atomic age.

Kopp and colleagues charted the sea level rise over the centuries. They saw Earth's sea level was on a downward trend. That was until the industrial age.

Sea level rise in the 20th century is mostly man-made, the study authors said. A separate, not-yet-published study by Kopp and others found that since 1950, about two-thirds of the U.S. nuisance coastal floods in 27 locales have the fingerprints of man-made warming.

And if seas continue to rise, as projected, another 18 inches of sea level rise is going to cause lots of problems and expense. That will be especially true with surge during storms, said study co-author Stefan Rahmstorf. He works at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. It is in Germany.

"There is such a tight relationship between sea level and temperature," Horton said. "I wish there wasn't. Then we wouldn't be as worried."

The link to temperature is basic science, the study's authors said. Warm water expands. Cold water contracts. The scientists pointed to specific past eras when temperatures and sea rose and fell together.

The Kopp study and a separate one published by another team projected future sea level rise. They used various techniques to base their conclusions. They came to the same general estimates. This was despite using different methods, said Anders Levermann. He is a co-author of the second paper and a researcher at the Potsdam Institute.

If greenhouse gas pollution continues at the current pace, both studies project increases of about 22 to 52 inches. If countries fulfill the treaty agreed upon last year in Paris and limit further warming to another 2 degrees Fahrenheit, sea level rise would be in the 11- to 22-inch range.

Rising seas do not just affect us on land, but the ice caps are melting and animals are losing their homes. Us on land, however, there is more flooding and flooding can lead to other problems, such as destruction of property, crops, and towns, and it's just not good for the environment.

maddyc-Orv

3/17/2016 - 03:21 p.m.

Rising seas affect us on land because if you live be the shore, when the seas rise from the melting ice caps, water rises and your house goes underwater. We need to stop Global Warming.

riceeli1-dil

3/31/2016 - 03:22 p.m.

"Sea levels on Earth are rising. They are going up at a rate several times faster than they have in the past 2,800 years. They are accelerating because of man-made global warming." I think it is terrible that homes are getting destroyed just because we, us people are creating global warming. I feel terrible for those people.

alanf-ter

4/12/2016 - 11:16 a.m.

We should build walls so the water won't flood the land; even if it takes a couple of years, rather be safe than sorry!

william1108-yyca

5/04/2016 - 08:12 p.m.

It must have been really dangerous to be in that kind of storm or something like that. I as very lucky that I wasn't there. But if I was then I would be really in danger. Maybe one day I will learn more about those kinds of rising sea level.

aidenm1-bur

2/06/2017 - 12:33 p.m.

It would effect us by getting rid of homes,beaches, wildlife,and our economy. It would also effect me because my aunt lives on a beach.